
Vera
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Narrated by:
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Nicki Paull
Lucy Entwhistle's beloved father has just died; aged twenty-two she finds herself alone in the world. Leaning against her garden gate, dazed and unhappy, she is disturbed by the sudden appearance of the perspiring Mr Wemyss. This middle-aged man is also in mourning - for his wife Vera, who has died in mysterious circumstances. Before Lucy can collect herself, Mr Wemyss has taken charge: of the funeral arrangements, of her kind aunt Dot, but most of all of Lucy herself - body and soul.
©1907 Elizabeth von Arnim, & 1921. The Estate of Elizabeth, Countess Russell, 1941. (P)2008 Bolinda PublishingListeners also enjoyed...




















Editorial reviews
A bleak but comic psychological portrait of a young innocent, Lucy Entwhistle, and her domineering husband. Lucy meets Everard Wemyss on the day of her father's funeral, while Wemyss is still mourning the recent loss of his wife, Vera. The two fall in something like love, and Everard convinces Lucy to marry him. But Lucy eventually learns the disturbing true extent of her new husband's controlling quirks, and glimpses the real story behind his first wife’s death. Australian actress Nicki Paull provides a smooth, distinguished narration of this cautionary tale, said to be based on author Elizabeth von Arnim’s second marriage to Bertrand Russell’s brother.
Critic reviews
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The narrator voices the protagonist to sound like a young child and, while she is written to be naive, it is jarring and gross to hear her discussing mature marriage issues in a child’s voice.
Great writing, narrator is inferior
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The novel is so tightly written and so tense, I found it hard to stop listening. Readers who demand punishment and redemption might be unsatisfied by the chillingly abrupt ending.
Nicki Paull has a rich, flexible voice, and reads the novel extremely well. With one exception. The voice she uses for the young, female lead's spoken dialogue is so chirpy, insipid, and annoying, it makes her sound like an idiot and renders her unsympathetic. I can't help but believe that Von Armin had different intentions. The character's inner thoughts and insights suggest she's intelligent but under the spell of her husband. It came close to ruining what was otherwise a crisp, nuanced reading.
Strangely Immersive and Compelling
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For young women who fancy themselves in love, read this book then look again at your proposed husband. You might see Vera, the young, beautiful, first wife of Mr. Wemyss dead. Did she commit suicide? Or was she pushed? Was she driven to take her life? We wonder; we speculate; we have thoughts. What is the fate of Lucy, the young, lovely, soft, wonderful second wife? I do not wonder. I know. I know.
Not a book for kids of any age
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